Radio Pranks and Practical Jokes - How Far is Too Far?

Most of us have fallen victim to a few pranks pulled on us by friends or family members, from time to time. My kids have inherited my sense of humor (I’m still trying to figure out if that is a good thing. LOL) and have played plenty of practical jokes on me, but that is for another hub. In this article, however, my focus will be on the ramifications of when a joke can be taken too far.

Click here to read about the pranks my kids have pulled on me. Pranks and Practical Jokes 2-Punk'd By My Own Kids▼

Television, Internet and Radio Getting In On the Action

Bored? Need to be entertained for awhile? Or maybe you’ve had a long day at work and just want the luxury to sit and relax for awhile. Whatever it may be, we can find just about anything nowadays in this technical advanced society we live in today. Between endless channels to flip through on the television to the internet and radio stations we have available to us, we are never hard-pressed for entertainment.

In recent years, there have been quite a few shows made where their primary focus is playing pranks on innocent people. MTV is one of many, who have aired shows like this. Scared Tactics, Pranked, and Punk’d to name a few. Almost everyone has seen Ashton Kutchers’ show, “Punk’d.” Ashton chooses unsuspecting celebrities to play cruel, yet funny, pranks on. From Beyonce who thought she ruined Christmas for needy children to actors having their $200,000 cars stolen, they all fell victim to Ashton’s practical jokes. Extremely funny, well thought out, and none of the victims or their property are harmed in any way.

Now enter the internet, where you can type just a few keywords and find just about anything you are looking for. The internet allows people to download music, movies, post pictures and videos. Most people use YouTube when they want to search for certain clips or videos. People upload videos daily to this site and you can just about imagine how many videos are uploaded that involves people being pranked. Some are extremely funny, while others are disgusting and just plain mean. Radio stations are the next to get in line, holding competitions to win tickets to concert and sports events, along with cash drawings. Below is an example of a prank gone bad.

Radio Station Giving Out Free Kayne West Tickets

A woman calls in to a radio station trying to win tickets for a Kanye West concert. In order to win these tickets, the radio announcer tells her the she must call her husband and tell him that their 9 year old son is not his, but in order for her to win, the wife must get her husband to say, “Its okay, I still love you.” (screeching brakes) What!? I don’t know about any of you, but I don’t need tickets that bad to ANY concert, to justify playing a cruel joke like that on my partner. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know what the outcome of this will be. This scenario has disaster written all over it.

The radio announcer continues to explain all the rules, no texting her husband to give him a heads up, it has to be believable, and bottom line he has to say, “Its okay, I still love you.” With a few sighs and some time to think about whether or not she can pull this off, she takes the bait.

The rest of the story unfolds like this; woman calls husband, butters him up with, “How’s your day? Mine’s good. Do you have time to talk? I have something I need to get off my chest that has been bothering me and I just want to be honest in our relationship. You know how much I love you, right?” The egg is planted. You can literally go through all the emotions with him, as his wife continues to tell the story. His entire life is beginning to unravel before him. You can hear confusion, hurt, and anger in his voice. Sad, really. We are all in on the joke and he hasn’t got a clue. I feel sorry for him and feel the need to save him, but I can’t do anything but mutter, “oh my gawd’s,” at the computer, while covering my mouth in disbelief.

With each second that passes on the clock, he becomes angrier, until he suddenly has a clear vision. (It’s really weird, you can actually hear and visualize how our mind works, and takes control to protect us during times like this.) The husbands’ whole demeanor changes and he states in a sarcastic, calm voice to his wife, “Well, since we are getting things off our chest and we want to be completely honest with each other, I have something to tell you.” Almost instantly, the wife starts backpedaling, “Hon, just wait! Wait!” The husband ignores her desperate pleas and states matter-of-factly, “I’ve been screwing your sister for the last year!” You can hear the wife and the guys from the radio station trying to frantically sort everything out.

Who’s at fault? The radio station for trying to keep their ratings up? The wife who just wanted tickets to see her favorite artist perform? Or, the husband who was the victim throughout all of it, until the very end when he disclosed he had been cheating? I’ll let you be the judge.

I’ll be the first to admit that I am easily annoyed by people who don’t take the time to think things through. Must be time for a cup of coffee. Is it sick to put Teddy Grahams in your coffee, just to watch them drown? Hehehe